The American startup Canoo herself is not new to major collaborations. The Arkansas-based company has now struck a deal with none other than the US military. Specifically, it will supply its electric vehicle skateboard platform to the US military for a variety of evaluations and tests.
If the results are promising, that same platform signed by Canoo could be used to make a series of military vehicles with zero emissions. The army of stars and stripes, moreover, has already announced that it intends to launch a general renovation program that will reduce CO2 emissions at various levels.
Between closure risks and help from Walmart
Like all startups, Canoo, founded in 2017, is going through that initial phase in which a lot of investment has to be made to develop the first vehicles and be able to start production in adequate volumes. The company, which is initially focusing on a multipurpose truck, reported a net loss of $125 million.
The figure had led CEO Tony Aquila to question the very survival of the company, which now seems to have managed to take a breath of fresh air thanks to the intervention of Walmart (which in the meantime is still waiting for its Tesla Semi), which would have agreed to buy the least 4,500 vehicles (but could also reach more than 5,500) in exchange for guaranteed shares equivalent to 20% of the entire company.
There is also NASA.
In addition to this, in April it was learned that precisely based on its “van”, Canoo reached an agreement for the supply of a vehicle that will have the task of taking the astronauts of NASA’s Artemis missions from the base to the launch. pad. The contract itself does not have a very high value (we are talking about $150,000 ), but without a doubt, at a communicative and imaginative level, it can lend a good hand to the brand.
Returning to the contract signed with the Army (which meanwhile said it was also interested in an electric Willys), Tony Aquila said: “As an American company based in the heart of the country, we are honored to have been selected by the Army. of the USA. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate our qualities of ours. own technology that is customizable and adaptable to the most diverse uses”.
